This study named the works of the literati in the Joseon Dynasty who made bouts-rimes conformed to forms of Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem as 'He Tao Si Yan Shi(和陶四言詩)', examined the acceptance patterns of Tao Yuan-ming's poem, and explored the lev ...
This study named the works of the literati in the Joseon Dynasty who made bouts-rimes conformed to forms of Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem as 'He Tao Si Yan Shi(和陶四言詩)', examined the acceptance patterns of Tao Yuan-ming's poem, and explored the level of internal development and the significance of literary history.
Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem, in terms of form and rhetoric, consciously inherited the style of 『Shi Jing(詩經)』. In this study, several characters were selected as the literati of ‘He Tao Si Yan Shi’ during the Joseon Dynasty: Kim Si-seup, Shin-Hum, Yu-Gye, Kim Su-hang, Kim Chang-hyeop, Jo Yu-su, Jo Jong-jin, Lee Man-su, etc.
They displayed various aspects in the title and form of ‘He Tao Si Yan Shi’. Some writers accepted the format of Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem, while others made variation on it with their own personality. The year in which poems were created generally coincides with the time when the writers suffered after middle age; this proves that Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem was effective in expressing one's personal feelings and intentions. It is also noteworthy that the creation period of ‘He Tao Si Yan Shi’ was concentrated in the 17th century.
There seem to be observable differences in the rhyming word(韻字) of each piece of ‘He Tao Si Yan Shi’ in the Joseon Dynasty. Jo Jong-jin and Lee Man-su mainly changed their rhyming word of the last phrase into different one with same rhyme group(韻目), in order to realize the differentiation of subject consciousness. Kim Chang-hyeop wrote poetry in accordance with the theme consciousness of Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem, but he did not create poems in the way of bouts-rimes.
The most distinctive feature of ‘He Tao Si Yan Shi’ in the Joseon Dynasty is the rhetorical aspect. Kim Si-seup embraced all the rhetorical features of Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem. In the 17th century, however, Shin-Hum, Yu-Gye, Kim Su-hang and Kim Chang-hyeop had a different way of acceptance and variation. Jo Yu-su, in the 18th century, accepted it at a very low level, but in the first half of the 19th century Jo Jong-jin and Lee Man-su absorbed it again at a high level. Considering that Kim Chang-hyeop did not use any title of Tao Yuan-ming's poems and even avoided the way of bouts-rimes, his works can be estimated to be located at a historical inflection point in the transformation process of ‘He Tao Si Yan Shi’.
Kim Chang-hyeop criticized the restoration in poetry of the 17th century, which made it possible for individualism to become a main literary trend of the 18th century. That's the reason why Jo Yu-su's acceptance level of Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem in the 18th century was so low in terms of rhetoric.
Furthermore, in the first half of the 19th century, the government official-literary men who were influenced by Munchebanjeong(文體反正) of King Jeongjo(正祖) claimed to support restoration or classicism. That is why the level of acceptance of Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem in the works of Jo Jong-jin and Lee Man-su was increased again.
In conclusion, the literati of ‘He Tao Si Yan Shi’ in the Joseon Dynasty accepted but varied the rhythm, formality and contents of Tao Yuan-ming's four words poem. In addition, they internalized those things into their own literary values and the trend of the times deviating from simple imitation.